Cirque du Soleil will arrive in Australia next month to present Kooza, a death defying, colourful homage to the traditions of circus. The national tour will begin in Sydney on 25 August 2016, where Kooza will be performed under the famous blue and yellow Big Top at The Showring in the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park.

Since its premiere in Montreal in 2007, Kooza has been seen by over 7 million people around the world and is currently delighting audiences in Santiago, Chile, where the season will wrap up on 31 July. The tonnes of equipment and over 1,000 costume pieces will then be loaded onto two 747s to make their way to Australia.

In this eighth Big Top show to tour Australia, Cirque du Soleil rediscovers its origins with a return to the intimate and fundamental human elements of circus, combining thrilling acrobatic performances with the art of clowning. We follow “The Innocent” as he takes a journey of self-discovery through a comic kingdom of eccentric characters, electrifying thrills and out of the box surprises. Presented in a colorful mélange, Kooza springs open like a bejeweled toy box to capture the audience’s imagination.

The international cast of 50 acrobats, musicians, singers and actors will present heart stopping feats and laugh out loud antics to a live soundtrack fusion of jazz, funk and Bollywood beats.

From its beginnings in 1984 with a group of 20 street performers, Cirque du Soleil has grown into a major organisation based in Québec that provides high quality artistic entertainment. The company has close to 4,000 employees, including 1,300 artists from more than 50 different countries.

Sydney theatre lovers are in for a unique experience with “Empire” now playing in the magnificent 700 seat antique Spiegeltent, complete with mirrored pillars and coloured cut glass windows, at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park.

Everyone gets a perfect view of the acts performing in the centre of the tent. Seating options available are raised booths around the walls of the Spiegeltent, with each comfortable booth providing seating for six on padded seats arranged round a table or alternatively, individual wooden chairs in the main body of the tent.

Suspended in a clear perspex bubble above the stage where she contorts, spins, and hangs upside-down, Miss A In A Bubble, performed a magical opening to the show.

Oscar and his wife Fanny, the hosts of the show, had everyone laughing during their performance of a hilarious quick change costume routine. They were followed by three beautiful women, known as the Gorilla Girls, who form perfect pyramids by balancing on top of each other in increasingly unlikely positions.

Many other talented performers kept us entertained during the evening, but the standout act was the 3D Graffiti Guy who created a self-supporting structure balanced entirely on a single feather.

“Empire” smashes the boundaries of circus, cabaret, vaudeville and burlesque, reinventing the genres for a 21st century audience. Featuring the sexiest, most daring artists from across the globe, the show had its world premiere season in New York City during the summer of 2012, where it was the first tented show ever seen in Times Square.

Spiegelworld is also currently presenting Absinthe on the forecourt of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, where it has played for almost three sold out years and has been extended through to 2016.

Running for 90 minutes without an interval at the Showring, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park until 16 February 2014, “Empire” is a show not to be missed

Preparations are well underway at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park for the Sydney season of Cavalia: A Magical Encounter Between Human and Horse, which opens onWednesday, 15 May.

At the Entertainment Quarter’s Showring, Cavalia’s immense White Big Top, complete with fairytale spires, took only a short time to erect on Tuesday, despite being one of the world’s largest touring tents.

I watched in awe as one of the crew climbed the 35 metre tall mast to the top of the ten storeys high tent, to install the final flag, which is now fluttering atop the gleaming White Big Top.

Created by Normand Latourelle, one of the co-founders of Cirque du Soleil, Cavalia is a unique and lavish orchestration of the equestrian and performing arts. The production stars 44 horses and 36 acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and riders from around the world.

Cavalia’s White Big Top seats 2,004 people theatre style and accommodates a 50 metre wide stage, which has been created to provide the horses space to gallop, at times completely free, to express their grace, strength, and beauty.

I have heard from my friends in Brisbane who have seen Cavalia where it is currently playing, that you won’t need to be a equestrian expert to appreciate this wonderful show which the whole family will enjoy.

The Sydney season which premieres on 15 May has been extended to 2 June 2013. Sandra Tiltman